Removing the Deadly Leaven: The Pharisee in us All | Part D

The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (Matthew 23:23)

(30) A Pharisee meticulously judges others in small issues, while they themselves are guilty of greater offenses.

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:24)

(31) A Pharisee is more concerned with his outward appearance than with the condition of his heart. He is diligent to maintain a righteous appearance, while on the inside, his heart is dark and deceitful. Are you the same person in public that you are when you're alone? Is it your custom to do right even when no one is looking? A Pharisee is more concerned with his own excess than he is with blessing others.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matthew 23:25-26)

(32) A Pharisee is self-righteous and supposes that he would never make the mistakes he claims others have made. Do you ever judge others' mistakes by saying "I would never have done that"? Do you presumptuously boast that your judgment is superior to another's?

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. (Matthew 23:29-30)

(33) A Pharisee persecutes Yahuwah's prophets.

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. (Matthew 23:33-36)

(34) A Pharisee is overly concerned about what others think of them. A Pharisee fears men, but does not fear Yahuwah. This is the opposite of Yahushua's council: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28) Are you more concerned with what your peers think than with what Yahuwah thinks?

The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. . . . But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. (Matthew 21:25-26, 46)

(35) A Pharisee is covetous and loves money.

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. (Luke 16:14)

36. A Pharisee trusts in his own works. Do you suppose in your heart that feast-keeping, Sabbath observance, abstaining from unclean foods, etc. will get you into Heaven? We are saved by faith, not by works. It is Yahushua's sacrifice alone that provides atonement, and our only hope of righteousness is imputed righteousness. There is nothing we could ever do to add to what He has done. To add our works to His sacrifice would only pollute the altar. "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags..." (Isaiah 64:6) Our works are the fruit, not the root. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of Yahuwah: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

(37) A Pharisee despises others. Do you harbor resentment towards others? ...or do you "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you"? (Matthew 5:44)

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. (Luke 18:9)